KUALA LUMPUR:Amid the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak, lawmakers and politicians from both sides of the divide should set aside their political differences, and place the people and national interest as top priority, said Tan Sri T.C Goh, president of The Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia (Huazong).
“They should do their best to facilitate and ensure good cooperation from all quarters in ensuring the Movement Control Order (MCO) succeed in containing the Covid-19 outbreak,” he stressed in a statement issued today.
He said this while expressing regret over the media reports that the five Pakatan Harapan (PH) led states, namely Selangor, Kedah, Negri Sembilan, Penang and Sabah, were not invited to the National Action Council meeting chaired by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin on Tuesday, which was aimed chiefly to streamline the Movement Control Order between states.
On behalf of the Government and the prime minister, the Chief Secretary to the Government Datuk Seri Mohd Zuki Ali subsequently made a public apology over the blunder, which he claimed was due to an oversight on his part.
“Such an incident should not have happened in the first place as, it is very unfair to the people of these five states which made up about 40% of the total population.
“Whether it was really an oversight or otherwise, it has inevitably caused suspicion among the Malaysian public, that it was politically-motivated, and that certainly does not augur well for the Perikatan Nasional Government who is struggling to win the people’s support,” said Goh.
He opined that being a Government that is responsible to the people and a prime minister for all Malaysians, there should be a proper and more convincing explanation on the so-called oversight.
Goh who is also the president of Federation of Chinese Associations Sabah (FCAS) reiterated that combating the Covid-19 outbreak is national movement and not a single state or Malaysian should be neglected by the government of the day.
“The whole country has been affected now, not a single state is spared from the threat of Covid-19 outbreak; this is a serious matter of life and death, not about politics,” he stressed.
He thus hoped that the relevant authorities could strictly abide by the prime minister’s directive, and to ensure that such an ‘oversight’ would not recur in the future.
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